Health Board Meeting

May 14, 2009 - Meeting Minutes

 

Meeting called to order at 2:56 pm by Arch Super, Chairman

 

Present:

Arch Super, Chairman

Leeon Hillman, Treasurer

Bud Johnson, Member at Large

Roy Arwood, Member at Large

Florence Conrad, Member at Large

 

Absent:

Leaf Hillman, Vice-Chairman

Florrine Super, Secretary

Verna Reece, Member at Large

 

Quorum is established.

 

The Health Mission Statement was read aloud by, Florence Conrad, Member at Large.

 

Agenda:

Bud Johnson motioned and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the agenda, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Minutes of April 9, 2009:

Florence Conrad motioned and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the minutes, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Director Reports:

1.) Daniel Pratt, TANF Director:

Daniel is present to review his report with the Health Board. He has one action item.

 

Daniel has one action item. There are currently 39 cases and for the month of June there should be 48 cases total. There has been training on career scope assessments. Staff and Daniel traveled to Sacramento for the Sate Coalition meeting. The State did not have their top person present for the meeting but he anticipates that another meeting will be set in July. The quarterly drawdown for December and ending March have been submitted. All needed documents from the Karuk Tribal TANF program are at the State and he is hoping that the reimbursements will arrive in the next couple weeks.

The program is expanding and there are more projects coming in.

 

Next month there is a TAS database system training on June 8-9, 2009 in Tulsa OK.

 

Leeon Hillman motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve the out of state travel for Daniel Pratt and Alfonso to Tulsa OK, June 8-9, 2009, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

The next staff meeting is in Happy Camp June 5, 2009 at 11 AM. Arch asked for a meeting reminder to be sent to him.

 

Leeon Hillman motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve Daniel’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

2.) Mike Edwards, Behavioral Health Director:

Joe Snapp is graduating on June 13, 2009 from Portland State with his Masters Degree. Also, Florrine is graduating in May. Mike is happy to get Joe back into the clinic to get him seeing patients. There will be positive parenting classes in Orleans as well due to the success of the Happy Camp and Yreka classes.

 

He continues to meet with Lessie and Karen Daniel’s to work cooperatively with accreditation to obtain that accreditation with the health program.

 

Mike has one action item and it is for Hazel Croy to pay her $100 for providing childcare for foster care during the YR parent classes.

 

Roy Arwood motioned and Florence Conrad seconded to approve contract 09-C-045, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

The Children’s code has been approved and the Karuk Child Welfare Plan will need to be approved now moving forward. He will submit that document for final approval once the policies and procedures are complete.

 

The DUI classes are not being offered in Yreka, and he is unsure of the hold up. Mike believes that there may need to be an impact study done for the YR area to determine if the community can hold enough clients for two programs to operate.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Roy Arwood seconded to approve Mike’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

3.) Vickie Walden, Dental Office Manager:
Vickie is present tonight to provide a verbal report to the Health Board as she was not in town to submit her written report and did not have enough time to provide a written report upon her travel return.

 

Vickie did receive some information on a Denti-cal bulletin and that information will be provided as soon as it is available. There seems to be some minor changes in the Denti-cal including preventative and general care. The Medi-Cal users will still have some sort of insurance but not a lot and none which will leave them not having eligibility for grant programs. Dr. Burns questioned Medi-Cal with a high share of cast. Vickie explained that for Medi-Cal if there is a limitation it doesn’t matter as it is some form of insurance.

Dr. Burns questioned this coverage in comparison to the medical departments.

 

Roy asked Lessie how this could be incorporated into the Health Care reform. Roy would like to offer suggestions on behalf of the Tribe if Lessie should have any for the reform meeting. Dr. Burns asked if there was information included in the MOU or MOA with HIS. Jim Crouch and others were attempting to get healthcare of keep the MOU and MOA for Denti-Cal for only Native Americans which could be a win-win situation for California. This was still undetermined. Roy will be attending healthcare reform and any information Lessie could provide would be very helpful.

 

Vickie had some networking at her recent dental conference. During her conversations she found that other programs are laying off providers and turning more toward co-op on the clinics. Also, through CRIHB and IHS they are hoping to keep things moving.

 

Roy Arwood motioned and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Vickie’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

4.) Patti White, Database Administrator:

Patti focused her report on EHR setup for the health program. There was a lot of setup that was done and there were some issues with scheduling. Though there were some small mishaps in the training it was beneficial. The ICD9’s and CPT’s were set up. Lisa Rugg is almost 100% moved to EHR and Dr. Burns is working toward it while he can. There are still some errors that have shown up but they continue to work through the glitches. It is moving along really well. The Happy Camp Clinic is onboard for the Sate loan repayment program. This means that if a scholar wants to have loan repayment through the State then they may apply and enter into an agreement with the State to work in Happy Camp and the Tribe could meet the half requirement of wages for the scholar to receive the loan repayment program benefits. The new application year is August through October of this year.

Leeon asked about the onsite visit and if the findings were identified and if those were things that needed fixed right away. Patti did have small errors but they are being worked on as time allows. Dr. Burns announced that the team did very well. Patti, Lessie and all the IT people did great. Amy spent about fifteen minutes with him after the three day training and with that training and extra time he was able to enter into the system. Patti was very thankful for Amy and her knowledge in EHR.

 

Roy Arwood motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve Patti’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

5.) Eric Cutright, IT Director:

Eric is present tonight to provide his report to the Health Board. He has an action item which is a purchase agreement for the new copier. The agreement number is 09-A-022 from March 27, 2009 to March 27, 2010.

 

Leeon Hillman motioned and Florence Conrad seconded to approve agreement 09-A-022, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

The TANF program is able to operate their TAS software. On April 27-28, 2009 there was a lot of work done on the KTHA server and also good back ups are being done on their documents.

 

Eric announced that HRSA will release some stimulus money which is based on the EDS report. It was determined that HRSA will release an estimated $300,000. Eric would like to request using $250,000 of that stimulus funding to utilize the KTHA maintenance building for use of a single location to house all the Tribe’s servers. Eric and Chris will work on this further to allow for a complete proposal but to date he is working on lease options with KTHA and a 25 year lease at no cost. Eric has worked with Laura Mayton, Erin Hillman, Sami Jo and a few others to determine what is needed as well as the best interest of the Tribe and its growth. The residual cost would be the power pole rental and an agreement with the power company. KTHA has agreed to continue to pay taxes and the insurance to the building as a part of the lease.

This is mainly informational purposes at this point but he wanted to give a first announcement to the Health Board.

 

Bud Johnson motioned and Roy Arwood seconded to approve Eric’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0pupitihara.

 

6.) Toni Lynn Downey, PHN:

Toni is present to provide highlights of her report. In the public health realm there have been patients with a lot of needs and that has been fun for her as well as challenging. There have been several eye exams with the retinal camera. She attended the EHR training which was useful. She has been coordinating with the maintenance staff on emergency lighting and they have been great to work with.

 

The AED’s had a recall and she used a lot of time completing the tasks of updating the machines and changing the batteries.

 

Toni’s first action item is a request to approve a CHR position description. She provided the changes that were made and she will only be taking one person on currently as that is the only allowable funding in the HRSA grant. This position will be a Happy Camp position but will work in Yreka as well.

 

Toni explained that with one to two years experience you could advance to a CHR I or a CHR II.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Roy Arwood seconded to approve the revised position description, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Her second action item is related to the generator project for the administration complex. A bid process has been completed and possible generator project funding will come from the Blue Shield grant and the Sierra Health Foundation grant. The lowest bid was selected and she has chosen Schlumpberger Consulting Engineers, in the amount of $18,950.

 

Roy Arwood motioned and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve procurement and allow the purchase of a generator in the amount of $18,950, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Toni had one last thing to request. A tribal member student has requested information on the diabetic grant. Toni is unfamiliar on sharing grant information and requested that the Health Board instruct her on sharing data and financial information. The Health Board referred the tribal member to the CFO for the needed information.  

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Roy Arwood seconded to approve Toni’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara 0 pupitihara.

 

7.) Karen Daniels, DQMCH:

Karen has submitted the AAAHC application for accreditation of the Karuk Tribal Health Program. She has been traveling to each site and preparing the staff for the accreditation process. She has done a few short presentations to staff on professionalism and working together. Lessie is focusing on getting the facilities unified and working together and Karen has taken this onboard working toward her goal as well. She attached the ACQI committee meeting minutes and the performance improvement reports for the Health Board to review.

 

Karen then went on to her policy approvals that need Health Board approval. She has eleven policies that need approved and they are; Acceptable and Unacceptable Abbreviations, Allergies, Suggestion Box, Performance Evaluations, Information Management Plan, Native American Eligibility for Direct Care Services, Personnel Identification Badge, Incident and Occurrence Reporting, Sentinel Event Reporting, Chart Order Medical, and Pandemic Influenza.

 

Bud Johnson motioned and Roy Arwood seconded to approve the policies with small grammar and spelling changes, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Roy Arwood seconded to approve Karen’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

8.) Lessie Aubrey, EDHHS:
Lessie is present to provide her written report with the Health Board. She is happy to report that the patient eligibility worker has brought in $4,036 in savings with the indigent program and for Non Natives another approximate $5,000 in savings. The total for Yreka was an estimated $9,000 in savings. For HC it was $3,029 for savings within that community. In the OR clinic there was $282 for natives and non natives it was $480 in savings. She saved close to $12,000 in medications alone. She previously brought in $28,000 and this improvements is nice and definitely worth having the position.

 

There has been discussion on Roy traveling to Sonoma Indian Health. Tom Rogers from a Senators office will be present for two hours for the healthcare reform meeting with California programs and Lessie would like to request that Roy be approved for this travel and attend the meeting.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Leeon Hillman seconded Roy to travel to Sonoma CA, 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Roy Arwood).

 

CRIHB has an oral health research project and they would like the Tribe to support the project. Lessie had brought the template they are asking for and she believes that it is a good idea.

 

Consensus: to send the support letter regarding the oral health research project to Jim Crouch.

 

There have been some requests for proposals from HRSA. She would like to take the overhang in the YR clinic and make a medical records room and additional storage with remaining funding from HRSA after the IT project is discussed and prioritized. Hester found that on a website this summer there will be further funding for new clinic possibilities which could amount to 5-6 million dollars. Hester found that HRSA will not fund something in a flood plain or require flood insurance. Lessie explained that there is a pad where there is a single wide trailer, she would like to get something going and create some office space, possibly a modular for the Orleans staff. This new space will house all health employees. Lessie does understand that YR needs medical records storage as well with appropriate shelving and heating needs. This does not lesson the priority for the OR staff. Rick Hill will be exploring this and will bring information back at a later time.

 

Lessie had training at the biannual health meeting. She began the meeting with forgiveness and then went on to accreditation training which was very beneficial. She continues to strive bringing the staff together and building teamwork abilities.  

 

Leeon Hillman motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve Lessie’s report, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

 

Closed Session:

Florence Conrad motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to uphold CHS denial and pay the $1,600 for hearing aids for Tribal Member #61 from third party, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Bud Johnson motioned and Roy Arwood seconded to contribute $600 from third party for Tribal Member #1717 for an additional one day per week for three months of care at Madrone Adult Center, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Consensus: to deny the bill and forward to KTHA and then possibly consider a loan program.

 

Leeon Hillman motioned and Florence Conrad seconded to reinstate employee # 8072 pay and make it effective to the date that it was reduced, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Bud Johnson motioned and Florence Conrad seconded to provide lunch for the NCTCC for the May 15, 2009 meeting, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the draft (1) for the new language for the language program contract, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to pay the overpayment of $628 for Tribal Member # 1666 services that have already been rendered, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Roy Arwood motioned and Leeon Hillman seconded to forgive the loan and write off the amount of $3,194.94 for Tribal Member # X01895, 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Florence Conrad).

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Roy Arwood seconded to approve authorizing up to $30,000 for vehicle purchases for the maintenance department and have those purchases through Ishpuk Leasing, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Consensus: to table the request from employee # 1017 to allow for further information

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Roy Arwood seconded to contribute $500 for burial assistance for Tribal Member # X011989, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Roy Arwood motioned and Florence seconded to pay for Tribal Member # 3036 fees for the 8th grade trip from Hoopa Elementary School, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Florence motioned and Bud seconded to approve out of state travel for Robert A. Goodwin to Washington DC June 1-5, 2009 and allow KTHA to pay for the travel, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Leeon motioned and Florence seconded to approve loaning employee # 7225  money for her Tribal childcare provider to travel with her to OK, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Leeon motioned and Bud seconded to cover the $15 fee for one year internet service through a blackberry, 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Florence motioned and Bud seconded to approve appointment of Tribal Member #11 for the vacancy on the Council open due to resignation, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Consensus: for four parking spaces to be posted for customer parking only for the People’s Center.

 

Roy Arwood motioned and Leeon Hillman seconded to reimburse employee # 0506 $ 180 for travel changes incurred, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Consensus: to allow HSU instructor to work cooperative with Pim Allen on material and photograph identification.

 

Florence Conrad motioned and Bud Johnson seconded to approve paying $56 of council discretionary for gifts purchased for Tribal Members and mailed to them, 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Leeon Hillman).

 

Roy Arwood motioned to approve revised insurance payments on behalf of employee 1017 and allow the charges, died for a lack of a second.....

 

Next Meeting Date: June 11, 2009 at 3 pm in Happy Camp

 

Bud Johnson motioned and Florence Conrad seconded to adjourn meeting at 7:40 PM, 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

________________________________

Arch Super, Chairman

 

Barbara Snider, Recording Secretary